Motor vehicles typically have a latch for latching a luggage compartment panel. The latch is released by a key cylinder to open the panel and permit access to the luggage compartment.
It is also known to provide a remote handle adjacent the operator's seat and connected to the latch by a cable. Lifting the handle pulls the cable and thereby releases the latch from inside the vehicle so that the compartment panel springs to the open position.
One disadvantage of the aforedescribed remote release for the compartment panel is that a person who has entry to the occupant compartment, such as a valet parking attendant, also has access to the luggage compartment by operating the remote handle. Accordingly, the prior art has proposed a switching device located inside the luggage compartment by which the remote release handle may be disenabled from operation of the deck lid latch.
The present invention provides a new and improved remotely releasable deck compartment panel having a disconnect device for disenabling the remote release feature.